Please don't leave
by alliedoll
Summary: Daniel Bryan's wife of 7 years leaves him with his two young sons. He needs the help of his long time friend Beth Phoenix to get over the hurt and take care of his children. complete
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters/people, nor am I privy to any details of their lives. This story is simply something I came up with off the top of my head. Enjoy!

"I'm sorry. I don't love you anymore. Things haven't been right between us since Casey was born, and you don't care about me anyway. You only care about Casey, Ethan and your career. It's like I don't exist anymore." Katie Danielson said to her husband of seven years, Bryan Danielson, known to the rest of the world as the wrestler Daniel Bryan.

"Katie, I'm trying. But you blame me and the boys for all of your problems. If you don't want to be married, fine. If you don't want to be a mother, fine. I'll take care of them by myself, and you don't have to be part of it. I won't force you to stay. I don't want my sons growing up around a mother who thinks they ruined her life."

"Bryan, I don't hate the kids. I just wish that people cared about me as much as they care about them."

"Katie, they do. I do. I love you just as much as I did before we had kids, just as much as I did when I decided I wanted to marry you."

"Garth asked me to go to India with him."

"Your yoga instructor?"

"Yeah, he said it would help me mature spiritually."

"Are you screwing this guy?"

"No, we've only kissed."

"Jesus, Katie. I've never cheated on you. Ever."

"Oh, please. All the female friends you have? What about Beth? You can honestly tell me you've never thought about making out with her?"

"Katie, that's all we are. Friends."

"Well that's all you and I are now too. I have to follow my true spiritual path. I'm not going to be held back anymore by what society or you or anyone wants me to be."

"I wish we could work it out."

"It is way too late for that."

She shut the door. He lay on the bed and looked at the ceiling trying not to cry. He tried to find a way to tell his sons that their mother had given up on their family, and that they were now on their own.

Elizabeth Kocianski, known to the world as Beth Phoenix, sat on the edge of the hotel swimming pool. She'd taken Bryan's two sons to allow their parents some much needed alone time. Ethan, age 6, knew how to swim and was doing cannonballs off the side of the pool.

"Look at me, Beth, look at me." He squealed happily before jumping in and splashing everyone around him.

Casey, his four year old brother, wore a swim vest because he couldn't yet touch the bottom even in the shallow end of the pool. He was really good at moving around in the water though, and could nearly catch up to Ethan when they attempted to race.

"Beth," Casey asked. "Can we get pizza tonight?"

"Yeah, if we can find a place here in Omaha that serves a spinach and mushroom pizza with soy cheese on it."

"Cool. You know you're the best babysitter we have."

"Thanks Casey."

They went upstairs to their suites to change clothes. Ethan knocked on the door of his parents' room while Beth waited in the hallway to make sure they answered before she went to her own room.

"No answer."

"Come on, I probably have some clothes in my room."

Bryan finally came to the door. His face was tear-stained. He hugged Ethan and Casey, trying to pretend like nothing was wrong. Beth could tell by the look in his eyes things were worse between he and Katie.

"Did you have fun?" he asked.

"yeah, Beth said she's take us all for pizza. Do you and mom want to go?"

"Mom's not here."

"Where is she?"

"She's gone, Ethan, just gone."

"Gone where?"

"Home, or maybe to India with her yoga teacher. I don't know. All I know is that she left."

He couldn't hold the tears back anymore. Beth put her arm around his shoulders and they walked back inside the room. Bryan lay down on the couch face down.

"We'll order a pizza, guys, and then later we'll go down to the arcade and play games," Beth said to the boys.

"Mommy's really gone?" Casey asked.

"I guess so."

"Do you think she'll come back?"

"We'll see."

"Is Daddy ok?"

"No, sweetie. He's really sad. He misses your mommy."

"I miss her too."

Beth called the pizza place and placed an order. Then she went over to the couch to check on Bryan.

"You're really quiet?"

"I'm still stunned."

"Is there anything you need me to do?"

"Just don't leave me right now."

"I'm not going anywhere."

He sat up so she could sit next to him, and they waited for the pizza.


	2. Chapter 2

Bryan went to sleep right after dinner, and Beth took the kids down to the arcade like she'd promised. They won a jackpot of 500 tickets on a game called the Cyclone along with 50 or so they'd managed to scrape together from skeeball. They were trying to decide how to spend their winnings.

"Do you want to get Cyclops or Wolverine?" Ethan asked Casey. Normally they'd have fought about their prizes, but tonight Ethan was being nice to Casey because of the circumstances.

"Do they have a spiderman?"

"You guys sure seem to know your characters. I thought you weren't allowed to watch t.v." Beth commented.

"We read comics and we have the figures. Every once in a while we get to look at cartoons on youtube, if we're driving and we're getting on dad's nerves."

"Do you think daddy wants a toy, Ethan?" Casey asked.

"Maybe, which one do you want to get him?"

"How about the karate guy, 'cause he likes karate." Beth giggled at the four year old's logic.

"Guys, hurry up and pick out what you want. We promised your dad we'd be back by 8 to get you guys ready for bed. We've got a show tomorrow night and two autograph sessions tomorrow. It's going to be a long day."

Beth sat down at a table. She didn't want to interfere with their prize selections. She was shocked they were holding things together. She knew Bryan and Katie had been fighting a lot more lately, but she hadn't known it would come to this.

"We got spiderman and four of the karate guys. That way we can all play karate guys together. Oh, and we got you something too." Casey pulled out a pink and purple plastic hello kitty necklace. "Put it on."

"Thank you, but you shouldn't have spent your tickets on me."

"You brought us down here, so you get a toy too."

"Mommy told us she didn't want to play games today," Ethan said. "She said this isn't a life, living out of hotels and eating out all the time. But if we were at home, we'd never see dad."

"Where do you like to be?" Beth asked.

"Everywhere, "Ethan said. "My favorite place is Sea World."

"Mine's the place where we got to ride all those trains." Casey said.

Beth laughed. At least the boys had each other for the moment.

Beth stopped by her room to pick up a few things. She figured she'd stay on the couch in Bryan's room for the night. The kids were too young to be on their own, and he was too distraught to give them his full attention.

Beth bathed them and helped them change into their pajamas. She washed her own makeup off. She then sat on the couch and read a book while they sat on the floor and played with a wooden toy train set. At 9, she finally said, "Time for bed."

"Aww, but we were just getting to the good part," the boys protested.

"We'll play more in the morning. Now go brush your teeth."

She went into the bedroom to tuck them in. "I want to sleep with dad." Ethan said.

"But I want to sleep with dad." Casey whined.

They stopped for a minute because they remembered what their mom said the night before.

"Mom said that's the grown-up bed. And this one's the kid one. So we have to sleep here. Beth can sleep on the grown up bed."

"No, I'm going to sleep on the couch."

"Why?"

She had no idea how to explain that to two young children, so she didn't even try. "I'll stay in here until you fall asleep," she said.

She lay on the far side of the bed not touching Bryan.

"Are you asleep?" she whispered. She heard nothing in the darkness but his steady, deep breathing.

She was more tired than she thought. She fell asleep right there on top of the covers. She awoken when the sun came in through the blinds. In the night Bryan had rolled to her side of the bed, his arms wrapped around her from behind holding her tightly to him. She wondered how Kate felt unloved if she woke up like that every morning. Beth felt safer than she had in years.

The alarm went off. "Five more minutes, Kate," he said dreamily not realizing where he was.

"Not Kate, Beth." She said.

"Sorry, Beth. I thought you'd be on the couch."

"I told the kids I'd stay until they fell asleep and just sort of crashed."

"I'm just used to…" his voice trailed off.

"You don't have to explain."

He'd not let her go yet because he needed the contact. He was really close to crumbling, and he needed her to steady him. She looked in his eyes, and saw that he was lost. There was no sign of lust. He simply needed something to hold onto while his world crashed around him.

"It's only 7. We don't need to go right away," she said. "the kids are still asleep and we can grab breakfast on the way to the signing."

She could be his anchor for a little while. She turned towards him and returned his embrace. She reset the alarm, and they lay silently for another hour.


	3. Chapter 3

"Cody, hey can you do me a favor?" Beth asked Cody Rhodes when she arrived at the venue for the autograph signing. "Will you switch tables with me today? I kind of need to be next to Bryan."

"What for?"

"He's got the kids today, and I guess we're kind of tag-teaming."

"Where's Kate?"

"Wherever Kate is. She left him, Cody. She just up and split. Left him with the boys."

"Damn. How are the kids holding up?"

"They seem to be ok. They're kind of in denial about it I guess. It's him I'm worried about."

Bryan came in about thirty minutes late with Ethan and Casey. Both boys carried backpacks full of toys and snacks.

"Sorry, I'm late. Casey's acting out today. He refuses to use the toilet. He wants to wear pull-ups instead. We had him fully potty-trained and now all that's out the window."

"It's probably just his way of trying to control things."

"That's what all the websites said. " Bryan looked annoyed.

The kids sat down on the floor behind the table and started coloring.

"Crap, I forgot all my pens. I remembered all the photos, but forgot the pens."

"Here" Beth said handing him three black sharpies. "I always remember extra."

If it hadn't been for the kids, he might have stayed in bed all day. He knew he couldn't afford to lose his job, and if he started missing personal appearances they'd find someone to replace him.

He held Beth's hand under the table trying to draw strength from her touch.

Ethan seemed calm this morning, but Casey really wanted Kate. He came over to the table and climbed up in Bryan's lap. "I'm sleepy, daddy. Will you rock me?"

Bryan was in the middle of talking with a fan. "Casey, honey, I'm working."

"Beth, will you rock me?"

"Casey."

"Bry, it's ok. Come here, sweetie."

"Mama always sings to me too."

"What song?"

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is my favorite right now."

Casey lay his head on Beth's shoulder and tried her best to rock him. She sang quietly to him. Bryan managed a smile watching her. It was a strangely intimate moment, something Kate would have hated doing right there in public. Beth balanced Casey on one arm and signed pictures with the other, and it didn't phase her. Casey finally fell asleep, and she lay him on the floor behind the table. She returned Bryan's smile and continued greeting her fans.

Ethan walked up to the table. "I made you a picture, Dad."

It was a picture of Casey, Ethan, and Bryan riding what looked like bikes.

"It's us riding 4-wheelers. We should do that next time we go home. Do you like 4- wheelers, Beth?"

"I've never ridden one."

"It's fun."

Ethan went back to drawing, and Bryan moved closer to Beth so they could talk without being overheard.

"I'm thinking about taking a few days off to go home."

"That makes sense. You need to clear your head some."

"I'm kind of afraid if we go that it's really going to sink in that Kate's gone. Right now it's not as real because we're still on the road. I need to get away from all this though because I can tell I'm not focused at all."

She took his hand again. "If you need to go home, administration will understand. You've got to do what's right for your family."

"Beth, if I lose my job I've got nothing. Everything I've worked for, everything I've sacrificed it won't mean a damn thing. For God's sake, I wrecked my marriage trying to get to this point."

"I don't think you're the one who wrecked your marriage."

"Maybe Kate was right. Maybe this isn't a good life for the kids. They need some stability."

"She didn't want stability. If she wanted stability, she'd have taken the kids back to Washington with her and married some guy who worked in a sawmill. She ran off to India to be with a guru.

"I think you're actually really stable. You've got the boys here with you. You make sure they eat right, you play with them, you don't ignore them. You've even found the time to homeschool Ethan, yourself. Your sons are really happy."

"I thought Kate was happy too, but I guess it was all a lie. She always seemed a little distant, and for a while I just thought she was homesick. She's jealous of me, of my career, and she's jealous of the kids."

"It's really hard to be with someone who's famous, especially if you're not."

"Yeah, but would you willing to give up everything for someone else's dream?"

"If it were the right person, I wouldn't have to make the choice. I'd figure out a way to have both."


	4. Chapter 4

There were no matches or appearances scheduled for the weekend, so Bryan took the boys home to Washington. They pleaded with Beth to accompany them, and she couldn't refuse. She'd been to the small house in the mountains once during a tour. It was common for their group of friends to stay in someone's house if they passed through their hometown. He had four acres of land in the woods. Near the house was a fenced area with a swing set, playhouse, and outdoor riding toys.

Books and toys lined the living room shelves. The room contained a large brown plush sofa and a matching recliner facing a stone fireplace. The kitchen had a large bay window that looked out onto a deck with a picnic table. There were two bedrooms on the lower level where the boys slept. A loft level above the rest of the house contained the master suite.

The boys ran around the yard until supper. Beth enjoyed watching Bryan run around and play with them. It was the first time she'd seen him happy in days. They had wild mushroom risotto for dinner, and after they played Candy Land. It was the only game Casey knew the rules for.

Beth wondered what it would be like to come home to this every day. She didn't find it boring, instead she thought it comforting. She washed the dishes and cleaned up while he got the boys to sleep.

"They're down" he said as he walked into the living room. They sat down on the sofa together.

"Thanks for coming up, Beth."

"Thanks for inviting me. I kind of needed a break from everything too."

His short blond hair was windblown, and he had on a gray t-shirt that enhanced the color of his light blue eyes. Eyes that she thought matched the autumn sky that now faded into twilight. He put his arm around her and pulled her closer. She turned towards him. He kissed her softly at first, sweetly. She returned those kisses with more heat, and he saw the spark of desire in her eyes.

"We should go upstairs. So we don't wake the kids." He took her hand and they climbed the ladder that led into the bedroom. She stripped off her clothes and crawled under the quilt that topped the antique brass bed.

"Join me?" she whispered flirtatiously. He laughed nervously, but pulled his shirt off and lay down next to her still wearing his faded jeans.

"Hmmm…" she said "It's kind of not fair. You're still wearing clothes." She caressed his chest, and her hands ran down his stomach until she found the buttons on his pants. She undid them and slid them down revealing red flannel boxers.

"Get under the covers," she giggled. The sensation of his skin on hers sent waves of pleasure running through her body. She ran her fingers through his hair and lightly massaged the back of his neck. All the while, her lips traveled from his face, down his chest, and finally to the waistband of the remaining garment. She pulled them off slowly and carefully.

As they made love, he looked into her eyes, taking in all of her beauty. As he looked at her, she saw such raw, aching loneliness that she was overcome with emotion. She wanted to replace all that pain with joy, with love. As he spilled into her, she lost herself in his release. After he lay his head on her chest and she stroked his hair.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"For?"

"For this, for being here, for being you."


	5. Chapter 5

Beth awoke to the smell of coffee brewing. She quickly showered and dressed, and then she went downstairs.

Bryan was in the kitchen making breakfast. She walked up behind him and put her arms around him. She kissed the back of his neck playfully.

"Morning," he said cheerfully. "Sleep good?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Like a rock."

"What are you making?"

"Garden veggie scramble. It's mushrooms, green peppers, spinach, tomatoes, and tofu. It's really good with peanut butter toast on the side."

"That actually sounds good. You must think I'm terrible. I'm basically a media-saturated carnivore."

"I don't think you're terrible. I actually think you are kind of terrific."

She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. "Ugh, I have to be in Detroit for RAW tomorrow. Then Tuesday, it's Madison for Smackdown."

"What time is your flight this afternoon?"

"It's at 4."

"I'll catch up to you in Madison on Tuesday. I need to stay here tomorrow to take care of a couple of things."

Casey and Ethan came into the kitchen. "I thought we were doing pancakes today. It's Sunday, we always do pancakes."

"We were out of blueberries, Ethan. We'll go to the store this afternoon when we drop Beth off this afternoon and pick some up for tomorrow."

"I wanted pancakes today." Ethan grumbled.

"Can we go swimming today?" Casey asked.

"We should have time before we have to go."

After breakfast, they took the four wheelers to a place about two miles into the woods. They parked on the banks of a river.

"It's really pretty out here." Beth said.

"This is my favorite place," said Bryan. "We normally bring a tent out here and make a whole weekend out of it."

"Did you bring the water guns?" Ethan asked.

"Of course," answered Bryan.

"You can have the really big one, Beth." Ethan handed her a large super soaker.

She laughed. "Looks like we've been summoned. How does this game work, Ethan?"

"Teams. I'll be with Dad and you can be with Casey."

"Who wins?"

"Whoever gets the other team the most soaked."

They ran around the river bank trying to zap each other with the water guns. They hid behind trees trying to dodge the other team's fire. Bryan snuck behind Beth, picked her up, and threw her into the water.

"Not fair."

"Perfectly fair." He jumped in after her. She splashed him.

They swam for about two hours before they had to leave to drive Beth to the airport.

"We'll meet at the hotel in Madison tomorrow?" she asked.

"Yeah, we'll be in at about 2 or so."

She hugged him tightly. "It's only going to be one day."

"Yeah, I know. It's weird, but I miss you already."

She kissed them all goodbye and boarded the plane.

Bryan sighed. When he'd checked the mail the previous afternoon, he noticed a large envelope from an attorney's office. It contained what he expected, divorce papers from Kate. He planned to take time tonight to read through everything and sign them. At first glance, Kate appeared to want nothing. She'd renounced her rights to the kids and the property. The only thing she asked for was some money and a car to start her new life.

He wasn't as sad as he expected to be. He was ready for it to be done. His thoughts returned to Beth and how well she fit into the life he'd created. She was fun to be around, amazingly sexy, and she loved the kids. He began to realize that Kate had checked out of their marriage a long time ago, and that there wasn't anything he could have done differently to change that.

a/n sorry so short. I'm working up to something big, but I'm having trouble trying to figure out how to get there. More soon I hope.


	6. Chapter 6

Days turned into weeks as they'd settled into a comfortable routine of traveling together. Unfortunately, Bryan had to spend this week in Europe on the Smackdown tour, and Beth was unable to join him due to her obligations on RAW.

He called her on Monday afternoon. She could hear the kids in the background. "Tell her about the ducks," Casey said. "And about the French spiderman comics."

Bryan laughed. "You'll get your turn in a minute. Sorry I think they've od'd on chocolate."

"You've managed to find vegan chocolate bars in Switzerland?"

"Yeah, actually there's a lot more stuff here since the last time I was in Europe. Our hotel is right by Lake Geneva, and we've got a great view from our windows."

She hugged the phone close to her face, trying to feel him through it. She really missed him. She talked to each of the boys for a minute or two, then Bryan came back on the phone.

"We've got autograph signings in a few minutes, but call me back after RAW. I don't care about the time difference. We're planning on watching it on a live stream. Talk to you soon. I love you."

"I love you too." Beth smiled as she hung up. Nikki Bella noticed and took the opportunity to tease her a bit.

"Does he really have super vegan powers like that guy in Scott Pilgrim?"

Beth laughed. "He's got something. Let me tell you."

"Seriously though, the guy's already got two kids. That's got to be boring. When do you two have time to go out or anything?"

"We do all kinds of stuff together. We've started reading together at night. We're about halfway through a series of Star Wars novels, and we just started it a couple weeks ago."

Beth felt dizzy for a minute, and had to sit down on the couch. "Man I need to eat or something. I'm feeling kind of wobbly."

She felt a little better after eating and went to prepare for her match.

Bryan, Casey, and Ethan sat around their laptop. The divas match was about to start, and Beth was about to enter.

Beth felt shaky as she walked down the hall. She knew the match between she and Eve Torres was short tonight, so she tried to steady herself. Her theme music started and she walked slowly to the ring. As she ascended the stairs, the room began to spin, and her vision blurred. The room suddenly went black.

As soon as Beth went down, Bryan was on the phone trying to make arrangements to go to Cleveland.

"Did you see what happened on RAW? Something happened to Beth, and I know it wasn't scripted. Please, Just give me a couple of days. I need to go check on her."

"Bryan, you know you're under contract." Smackdown general manager Teddy Long warned.

"I've been fired before. If I have to I'll go back to Ring of Honor or wherever, just let me go to her."

"Fine, you've got two days."

"Thank you." He caught the first flight he could.

Beth woke up in a hospital bed. The doctor came in.

"Ms. Kocianski. We've run several tests to determine why you passed out?"

"And?"

"The blood tests determined two things. One, your iron is a little low, and two you are pregnant. We'll have to do an ultrasound to determine how far along you are, but in the meantime we are prescribing a vitamin supplement."

The doctor left, and her phone rang.

"Hello," she said weakly.

"Beth, you're ok."

"Yeah, I'm still a little shaky. They said my iron is low."

"We're going to be there in about two hours. I'm taking a couple days off to be with you."

"I'm fine, really, Bryan."

She hated lying to him, but it wasn't something she felt right discussing on the phone. She needed to decide what she wanted to do. The past two months with Bryan and the kids had been amazing, but was she really ready to take this step?

She thought about what would happen if she chose to terminate the pregnancy. Her career was at a highpoint right now, and the Divas of Doom storyline was the push she'd been waiting for. Before now, though her personal life had been rather empty. She went home to a one bedroom apartment with only her dogs for company. Life with Bryan, Casey, and Ethan was the opposite of lonely. Even life on the road was fun lately, and that was something she'd never thought before.

Could she give up wrestling? Sure, it would only be for a year or two, but fans were fickle. They'd likely move onto another diva, and she'd be back at the bottom again trying to claw her way up the ladder.

Bryan loved his children more than anything in his life, possibly more than wrestling. He'd say that he'd support whatever decision she made, but she knew it would destroy him if she chose to end the pregnancy. She'd already seen enough pain in his soft blue eyes, and she instead imagined the joy she'd see when she told him about the baby. She knew she had to make a lot of calls right now. She started with her best friend.

"Nat, I'm pregnant."

"Seriously? What are you going to do?"

"I've got to see what I can do about making all my personal appearances and doing ringside stuff, but as of right now, I'm done competing until after the pregnancy."

"So you're planning on having the baby?"

"Yeah, now I've just got to tell Bryan."


	7. Chapter 7

Bryan met Beth at the hotel. The hospital released her right after she spoke to him on the phone.

He hugged her tightly. "I was so worried. I'm glad you're ok."

"We need to talk."

He froze. "Oh, God. It is something bad, isn't it?"

"No, but they did bloodwork, and it turns out that I'm pregnant. They did an ultrasound, and they determined I'm about eight weeks along. "

He turned away from her, and said "Whatever you want to do, it's your decision. I will support that." His voice was cold.

"Could you honestly say that you'd forgive me if I chose my career?"

"No, but I would understand."

"I thought about all of this for a long time last night, and honestly I'm already raising two of your kids right now, what's one more. I've already informed administration and I've been reassigned to Smackdown doing ringside duties. So I'll be coming back with you when you return to Europe."

"Beth, don't do this unless you're absolutely sure. I do not want you to hate me for screwing up your career. You are going to look back at this moment in five years, and you will despise me."

"Bryan, I love you. I love Ethan, I love Casey. I don't want to go back to being alone on the road or at home. You've managed to build the kind of life that I've wanted for a really long time, something I didn't think that I could have because of the business. I really want to continue being a part of that."

Tears sparkled in her eyes. He knew she meant every word. He pulled her close. "I don't have a ring or anything," he whispered.

"What?"

"Beth, the last two months have been amazing. I know it's sudden. I know it's only been a couple weeks since my divorce was finalized, but right now I can't imagine my life without you. Please marry me. I promise I will do everything I can to make you happy."

She kissed him. "Yes."

Two weeks later they were married. It was a small ceremony with only family and friends held by the banks of the river that he and the boys loved so much. They had the reception at the house, and they entertained guests until the wee hours of the morning.

Beth sat at a table talking to Natalya who was as happy as she is.

"When Ty and I get married, I want it to be small like this. Not a lot of fuss."

"Yeah, I'm surprised we got something organized so quickly, but I couldn't be happier at how it turned out."

Bryan smiled at her from the other side of the yard, and blew her a kiss. She giggled.

"Oh, go on." Nat said. "You'd much rather be with him than me right now anyway."

Beth went over and kissed Bryan. She was exactly where she wanted to be, exactly where she belonged, right there in his arms.


End file.
